The Private Life of Spiders - Hardcover

Hillyard, Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691135525 ISBN 13: 9780691135526

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2008

Synopsis

With more than 100 different families and 40,000 individual species, spiders are among the most successful creatures on Earth. Highly adaptable, they live almost everywhere, from equatorial rainforest to Arctic tundra. And they come in a huge range of shapes and sizes, from the tiny Patu digua, measuring less than half a millimeter, to the immense bird-eating tarantula, which can reach a span of eleven inches. In The Private Life of Spiders, spider expert Paul Hillyard takes the reader on a fascinating and richly illustrated tour of the lives of some of the world's most remarkable spiders.

The Private Life of Spiders reveals the intriguing behaviors of these complex creatures, from their extraordinary web-spinning skills and hunting strategies to their courtship displays and devoted care for their young. The book also describes other surprising skills of some spiders, such as the ability to cross vast stretches of open water.

Written in an engaging style, The Private Life of Spiders also looks at why people are scared of spiders, explains why such fear is generally misplaced, and shows why more needs to be done to protect endangered spiders.

• Features spiders from a vast range of habitats around the world
• Includes more than 100 stunning color photographs that capture the beauty and diversity of spiders
• Covers spider anatomy, behavior, reproduction, social organization, and hunting and web construction techniques

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"Paul Hillyard's Private Life of Spiders is enjoyable to read, very informative, and beautifully illustrated. The photographs are truly stunning and make a wonderful complement to the text's excellent information on spider life and biology for the general reader. This book will be a terrific addition to any naturalist's or spider lover's library."--Paula E. Cushing, president of the American Arachnological Society

"This is an excellent, engagingly written introduction to the diverse and often incredible world of spiders."--Jonathan Coddington, curator of spiders at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History

About the Author:

Paul Hillyard is a leading authority on spiders and a former curator at London's Natural History Museum. His previous books include Spiders and The Book of the Spider: From Arachnophobia to the Love of Spiders.

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0691135525
• ISBN 13: 9780691135526
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 160